


the pedal's down, my eyes are closed (no control);

by mevies



Series: heart out and no control [1]
Category: Descendants (2015), Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: F/F, I'm exhausted, Mentions of other characters - Freeform, and mal's a dumb bitch, i spent like more time than usually writing this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-30
Updated: 2017-11-30
Packaged: 2019-02-08 16:06:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12868137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mevies/pseuds/mevies
Summary: Evie. That was her name. Mal hated it, and she hated her. She was too pretty, and too nice, and she smiled way too often and talked to everyone and made everyone laugh. She was annoying, and too cheerful, and Mal did not like her one bit.or, the 'get out of my school' au.





	the pedal's down, my eyes are closed (no control);

**Author's Note:**

> This took me a while but it's finally done, and I haven't read it to know if there's any mistakes because I literally can't look at this story anymore, so. 
> 
> Uma's my favorite. Hope you like this!

Mal doesn’t like a lot of things. She’s rather a grumpy kid, and that’s one of the first things her mother tells the kindergarten teacher when she drops her glaring blonde four year old on a Monday morning, looking rather apologetic as she explains that her daughter might be a bit if a piece of work to deal with.  
  
She wasn’t wrong - Mal is... tricky, but after a while they manage it and learn how to control and deal with the young girl’s testy temper. Give her a piece of paper and some crayons and she’ll forget what she was even throwing a fit over. Give her a strawberry and she’ll stop trying to bite other kids. Or just don’t force her to join group activities, let her join in on her own time because she always would. She just had to think it was her choice - as a four year old, Mal was rather smart and a bit if an individual.  
  
Mal was definitely a challenge, but one they liked to deal with.  
  
And deal with they did. As the year progressed, Mal was fighting less and less, until she didn’t bother anymore. Of course, there were the days she was not to be messed with, but other than that she was just your usual grumpy kid, not much trouble.  
  
That was until her second year, when she had just turned five and the universe had wanted to give her a present - a present that she didn’t appreciate very much.  
  
A present in form of a too tall five year old with dark brown hair and light brown eyes, with a pretty smile and a really nice backpack and even nicer personality. A girl that had an accent when she spoke, because she came from another country. (Colombia, her teacher informed her when she asked her quietly during a group activity that Mal refused to do with the other kids and only accepted doing it with their teacher).  
  
Evie. That was her name. Mal hated it, and she hated her. She was too pretty, and too nice, and she smiled way too often and talked to everyone and made everyone laugh. She was annoying, and too cheerful, and Mal did not like her one bit.  
  
Evie soon became Mal’s arch-enemy, even if she was not aware of it. But Mal absolutely hated her and how she acted like a princess all the time and walked around with a sparkly tiara everywhere, and how Carlos and Jay - two of Mal’s best friends (and about the only people Mal could stand at that school, besides their teacher) - seemed to fall in love with the blue loving princess as well.  
  
It was annoying, so annoying, that Mal couldn’t help herself but glare at her piece of paper in pure childish hatred when she found herself drawing a princess castle with a small princess with brown hair and - argh!  
  
Mal crumpled the piece of paper and glared down at her desk, annoyed beyond belief at herself and Evie, for coming into her life and disturbing her like that. She did not like to be disturbed!  
  
The teachers had noticed her rather bad mood, but had decided to not mention it until Mal herself brought it up or just got over it. It’s not like she was putting other kids or herself in danger - yet. She was just glaring and pouting more often than not.  
  
It’s not until a month later that Evie has an interaction with Mal for the first time. She’s friends with pretty much every kid in her class, except for Mal. She can confidently say that Carlos, a tiny boy with lots and lots of freckles on his face and a soft spoken voice is her favorite. She likes Jay, but Carlos likes playing Castle, something Jay doesn’t care much for, even if he still does because he likes keeping Carlos happy. And Carlos and Jay are like, her best friends, really. But they don’t play with her all the time, they say they have to share their time with Mal, too. The blonde girl with pretty green eyes that always looks like someone ate her cookie.  
  
Evie sulks for a few days about having to share Carlos and Jay with the grumpy blonde, but then she figures it’s only fair. She guesses Mal got there first. So she makes friends with Uma, who’s nice and a little intense, but makes Evie laugh. And then Gil, who’s a little dense but is always really nice to Evie and shares his cookies and snacks whenever he has them. And then Harry, who has a really pretty smile and a funny accent - they bond over their different accents - and likes to play pirates. He calls Evie princess, and it’s fun, really, but she likes playing castle with Carlos and Jay better. (Not that there’s anything wrong with Uma, Gil and Harry! They’re great! She loves all her friends equally!)  
  
So, after a while, Evie decides that if she became friends with Mal, then she, Carlos, Jay and Mal could play together and she wouldn’t have to keep sharing her Carlos and Jay time with her. It’s definitely a win-win, because Mal looks like she could also be a princess, even if Evie thinks that maybe Mal would take that as an offense.  
  
So she decides to try and get closer to the blonde girl. She sits beside her during group activities, much to the blonde’s chagrin. She smiles and waves at her whenever she sees her, only to be glared at or ignored in response. She tries talking to the girl, but it’s the same as talking to a wall. There’s no getting through to the other girl, and Evie doesn’t like that. She doesn’t understand why Mal doesn’t want to be her friend, doesn’t know why she’s so mean.  
  
(Uma gives her a sympathetic shrug when she shares her feelings, and then offers her the only wisdom a six year old can.  
  
She offers her a cookie and tells her she can be the first mate of her imaginary ship since Harry wasn’t in school today).  
  
It’s not until a week later that Evie gets her first interaction with Mal, and it’s not at all what she expected or wanted. After recess, where she had been running around with Carlos until the teacher called them back, she had walked back to her assigned seat only to find a piece of paper with her name written at the top  in purple crayon and huge letters in an unfamiliar and childish fashion. She frowned and, ever so curious, she read over the message.  
  
Her frown deepened as she read the words staring back at her, in a messy scribble of purple.  
  
“Get out of my school.”  
  
Now, who would say that to her? It seemed obvious, did it not? Evie thought so, too. She was five, but she could very well put two and two together. She looked around the room, frowning, until her light brown eyes met with glaring green ones.  
  
Mal was so mean! Evie was nothing but nice and civil and friendly, and Mal was just... she was just a meanie! Fine, if she doesn’t want to be friends, Evie won’t force her.  
  
But she won’t get out of her school, either!  
  
/  
  
There’s a new boy in class, and on his first day, Evie took it upon herself to introduce him to everyone. She knew how it felt to be the new kid in the playground, and Ben looked like he was about to pass out as soon as his mom left him with the teacher.  
  
Ben tells her he just moved with his family because of his dad’s work, and that he’s just turned five and that he really likes blue. Evie’s eyes light up at this, and she tells him that’s her favorite color, too! Ben looks pleased to hear that, and they start discussing which colors they think is the best until Uma and Harry sit with them and Evie introduces Ben to them. They get along fine, Evie thinks. She’s glad.  
  
During break, she introduces Ben to Jay and Carlos and Gil, and Carlos asks Ben if he wants to play Castle with them. Ben accepts right away and asks if he can be the prince, and Evie’s eyes light up even more.  
  
It’s not long after they started playing that Mal walks out with their teacher, and she frowns when she sees Ben hugging Evie while Carlos and Jay fake wrestle and Uma, Harry and Gil run around pretending to fight with imaginary swords.  
  
She guesses Evie’s found the prince of her little stupid fairytale, and Mal feels like ruining it, just because.  
  
“Ew, Evie, is that your boyfriend?!” She calls out, and smirks when everyone pauses what they were doing to look at Mal and then at Evie and Ben, who are now separated. Ben flushes, awkwardly moving away from Evie until he’s beside Carlos and Jay and Evie glares.  
  
“Shut up, Mal!” Evie glares back, and Uma moves to stand beside Evie, putting a small hand on the girl’s little shoulder.  
  
And okay, maybe Mal was exaggerating a little and maybe she’d snuck in a sip of coffee when the teacher wasn’t looking which made her a bit extra... extra, that Mal sneered and said, “Boys are gross, Evie, and so are you!” which made Evie cry and Ben frown, and Uma to look at her like Mal had just called Evie something far worse, and for the boys - her boys - to glare at Mal for making Evie cry.  
  
Whatever. She meant it, and she’s not apologizing. Evie is just dramatic, anyways.  
  
-  
  
After a while, things cool down and everyone’s talking to everyone again - except for Mal and Evie. Those two still don’t talk, and whenever they absolutely have to interact it’s an interaction filled with cold looks from Evie and snarky comments from Mal. Which is concerning, considering they’re six years old and no one really knows where that attitude comes from.  
  
Whatever, it’s the last year of primary school, anyway. Soon they’re going to middle school and will never have to see each other again, which makes Evie want to sing and Mal even smiles.  
  
-  
  
Except.  
  
Except they go to the same school, because apparently there’s like, only two or three schools available in this entire city, which, wow, surprising, but not really. So they still see each other everyday, and Mal still gets annoyed when her friends choose to hang out with Evie instead of her. But, whatever. She’s twelve now and she’s independent - she doesn’t need to be around her friends all the time. And it’s not like they all ditch her to hang out with Evie - they compromise.  
  
Carlos jokes once that it’s like Evie and Mal are divorced parents and they’re the kids, but Mal doesn’t think that’s funny so he just shuts up for the rest of the day.  
  
She and Evie avoid each other like the plague, except for the fact that the universe likes to test Mal’s homicide tendencies so it makes their teacher assign them to be seat neighbors for the entirety of middle school.  
  
And it’s hell, basically.  
  
Evie is annoying. Like, she’s absolutely annoying. She could be just sitting there, not moving or saying a word that Mal would be annoyed. And maybe Mal’s the problem, but she doubts it. Like, yeah, most of the population gets on Mal’s nerves, but Evie is just... there’s something else about her. Mal can’t quite pinpoint what it is, but it’s definitely there.  
  
Her friends don’t think so, obviously, because they’re also Evie’s friends, but she knows it. And she warns them, because she doesn’t want her friends to be disappointed later in life when Evie poisons all of them or whatever.  
  
And everyday, Mal thinks she hates Evie a bit more than she did the day before. Because Evie got her in trouble once.  
  
(“Evie didn’t make you sleep in class, but sure.” Uma rolls her eyes when Mal tells her that.)  
  
And while that may be true, because Mal’s still pretty convinced Evie’s ridiculously perfumed everything has like a sleep poison (or whatever, Mal’s not a specialist), Evie got the teacher to see her sleeping in class.  
  
Because the brown haired girl is like, the only person in that class that actually participates and answers to the teacher’s questions, and the universe made sure that Mal’s the poor unfortunate soul that sits beside her. So obviously, the teacher quickly caught the blonde catching up on some sleep.  
  
So it obviously is Evie’s fault, because she’s evil and pays attention to class. If she were a good person, she’d be quiet and pretending that she’s not listening to what the teacher is saying, like any decent person does.  
  
And like, Evie is really annoying. She reminds the teachers of homework, and she does stupid things like be excited for a pop quiz and takes notes with her glittery pens, and it’s ridiculous.  
  
So for the entirety of middle school, Mal glares at Evie and is ignored in return.  
  
Until suddenly, it’s their last year of middle school and soon they’ll be high schoolers, and every one of her friends is acting like they’re all going to die or never see each other again, when Mal is pretty sure they’re going to the same high school and no one’s dying. So really, the blonde is not sure what the big fuss is about.  
  
Why is everyone so dramatic about everything? Like, God.  
  
So Mal is sitting in the last class of middle school, in which their teacher had given them a free period to wait for the last bell to ring, and she’s rolling her eyes as Jay and Carlos play fight two seats ahead of them, when she catches sight of Evie leaving the room in a rush, making Mal frown. And then she almost wants to die when she sees that even Uma and Harry are acting like this is the end of their life or something. So she stands up and asks for the teacher to excuse her to go to the bathroom.  
  
She walks lazily down the halls of the school, not really needing to go to the bathroom but also not wanting to go back to class because she’s not in the mood. That’s until she stops because she passes the staircase and finds Evie sniffling on the top of the stairs. Probably also emotional because she thinks everyone’s gonna die.  
  
But that’s not surprising, because Evie’s stupid.  
  
So she tries her best to ignore the fact that Evie’s emotional and keep walking, and she’s fine, until Mal noticed that the girl’s like, really crying for real. And against popular belief, Mal’s not like, a demon, so she awkwardly stares at Evie’s crying face until the girl notices her. And when she does, Evie wipes her tears with the back of her hand really quickly, as if Mal can’t see her red eyes and the fact that she’s sniffing.  
  
“Um.” Is all Mal says, because she hasn’t actually talked to Evie since she told Evie she’s gross at the playground. And that wasn’t even like, a deep and emotional or civil conversation, really, so this is new territory.  
  
Evie is looking at her like she has two heads, and Mal doesn’t blame her. She feels like she does, so she guesses it’s not gonna do anyone any harm if she continues, “you good?”  
  
“Why do you even care?” Evie asks, her voice cold and there’s like, straight up anger in her eyes, and Mal can’t help herself.  
  
“I don’t.”  
  
“Then leave.”  
  
Mal pauses. She looks at Evie for another second, and then shrugs. “Alright.”  
  
So she turns around and makes her way back to class, promising herself that’s the last time she’ll talk to Evie.  
  
If she quietly walks over to Uma once she goes back to class and tells her about Evie crying, telling her with an uninterested tone that she should check on her, making her friend stand up and excuse herself to find the girl, then Mal doesn’t think too much about it.  
  
She’s not like, a demon, after all.  
  
-  
  
Mal thinks this is punishment, for what exactly she isn’t sure, but it feels like terrible, awful punishment and she wonders if Uma knows she’s punishing her.  
  
From how Uma looks up at her from the field, smiling brightly up at her, Mal’s pretty sure she knows.  
  
And hey, whatever. It’s just one night. She could be at home, having a fun time watching E! or something as fulfilling, instead of around people from school that she absolutely hates, hearing the school band play some ridiculous rendition of an 80’s track that no one’s ever heard of (can triangles even be off-key? Because Mal thinks that’s the case), while she watches her friend jump around the field cheering as her other friend gets ran into by another giant guy from another school, and then there’s Carlos, who’s jumping around in a silver knight suit and looks ridiculous, and Mal truly and deeply wants to like, kill herself.  
  
But she promised her friends she’d be here, so she claps once and calls it school spirit.  
  
And like, this is a long time coming. Because this is like, their second year of high school, and Mal’s managed to avoid every single big game since her friends joined their respective teams. But then they decided enough was enough, and Mal had to come at least to one game, one game and they wouldn’t bother her anymore, that’s what they said.

So here she is.

Watching as Evie, who she still hates, is thrown up in the air and landing on a split. And Mal is not impressed, because she’s just not. She totally didn’t gasp or anything, because that wasn’t impressive.

Because she hates Evie.

Mal rolls her eyes when everyone around her cheers and screams Evie’s name along with a few other names from the boys playing, and Mal thinks that the fact that the entirety of this school idolizes Evie is a bit disgusting.

Like, is the bar really that low?

Anyway. Mal frowns until the game is over, because Evie really just had to go and ruin her night even more with her stupid split, and when Jay scores the final point and everyone yells and the team throws her friend up in the air and the cheerleaders act like they’re on crack - even Uma, really, is no one safe from school spirit anymore -, she thinks she’s good to go.

And she manages to make it to the parking lot until Uma’s yelling her name from behind her, and she groans and sighs and turns around, only to find Uma jogging towards her, the yellow and blue skirt moving as she does. 

“You’re not leaving, are you?” Uma asks, as if there’s a wrong answer to that question.

“Um, yeah.” Mal answers, and yeah, there was a wrong answer. And it was Mal’s answer, of course.

Uma shakes her head, and grabs Mal’s skinny pale wrist and tugs her until they’re standing around their friends. And Evie and Audrey, because they’re not part of the group. At least not Mal’s.

“There’s a party at Ben’s, and you’re going.” Uma informs her, and Mal is about to protest until she remembers that Uma is not opposed to forcing her into doing things she doesn’t want with violence, and Uma does things like work out, so she doesn’t feel like risking it tonight. So she just nods, and everyone cheers - except for Evie and Audrey, because they don’t like her and she doesn’t like them, and all that.

So, a party it is. For someone who’s spent so much time avoiding school events and parties and things like that, this has been quite the wild night for Mal. She needs to like, calm down, otherwise she could do something crazy, like smile at Chad or something like that.

-

The party is not fun. Mal isn’t big on drinking, because she doesn’t trust anyone and the idea of being out of herself around these people kind of sounds like a stupid idea, so she decides to stick to a cup of soda for the rest of the night and takes small sips.

Her friends had all walked off at some point, and she can see them all around the room, doing their own thing, and she’s extremely bored. She didn’t want to be here in the first place, and now she’s alone and she’s just over it. And really, she can’t go home now because she caught a ride with Jay, because Uma didn’t trust her to follow them to the party on her vespa. So she’s forced into standing here and waiting until one of her friends takes pity on her and lets her leave.

Until she has to move, of course, because drunk people are inconsiderate and this couple starts straight up making out beside her, and she’s like, not about to stand there while they do that. So she sighs and walks off, avoiding running into more drunk people and quickly making her way outside, where there are a few drunk people passed out on the grass, and some others talking to each other and it’s chill and she can like, breathe, which is great.

And then it’s not so great, because Evie sits beside her. Out of everywhere, she chooses to sit beside Mal, because apparently personal space isn’t like a thing anymore, and no one has respect for anyone, so.

“Do you have to sit here?” Mal asks, because. Because. 

Evie takes too long to answer, so long that Mal thinks she needs to repeat herself, but then, “Why do you hate me?”

Um. 

“What?” Mal asks, acting like she couldn’t understand. Like the music was too loud, or whatever. Evie doesn’t buy it, because Evie’s not stupid.

“You heard me.” Evie says, and Mal thinks she’s slurring her words a bit, and she can detect a hint of the accent that the girl had mostly lost over the years, so she thinks Evie is a bit drunk, which makes sense, because why else would she ask Mal something like that while sober.

That gives Mal a bit of confidence, so she just says, “Why do you hate me?”

And like, that’s not an answer, and she knows that, but it makes Evie pause to consider. They’re in silence, and then Evie gulps the rest of her drink in one quick motion and Mal is almost impressed.

She almost forgot they had even like, exchanged words and meaningful questions until Evie speaks again.

“I don’t.”

And Mal has already forgotten what she asked, so she needs to scurry through her incoherent brain for a few seconds to remember what could’ve possibly gotten that answer from the other girl. And then she pauses.

Wait, what? 

When she turns around to ask Evie what she meant by that, she sees that the girl’s already walked off to talk to Audrey and her other friends from the cheer squad.

So she guesses she’ll have to like, wonder for the rest of the night. Which is annoying. But then again, Evie is annoying and that’s the kinda thing annoying people do to others. 

Mal sighs.

-

Mal hates Evie. She does. She can’t remember a time in her life that she had any sort of positive feelings towards the other girl, if you didn’t count the generic stuff like ‘she’s pretty and she has the prettiest smile Mal has ever seen and her laugh sounds pretty too’, or whatever. Like, that’s just being human and having ears and eyes that work properly. Mal and Evie hate each other, and that’s how it’s always been since she can remember.

Except.

Except a drunk Evie told her she doesn’t hate her, and that really puts a damp in the whole ‘we hate each other and it’s completely mutual’ thing. And like, Mal thinks that it’s stupid that she can’t stop thinking about that for a whole entire weekend, and then come on monday she’s still fucking thinking about it. That’s just inconsiderate, really. Because thinking about someone you hate that often kind of defeats the purpose of the whole “I don’t care about you” thing.  
  
So, come on monday, Mal’s pretty fucked up and she doesn’t even glare when someone steals her usual parking spot or when Jay talks a little too loudly near her.  
  
She hasn’t really slept last night, because she’d come to the conclusion at nearing 3AM that Evie hasn’t actually gone out of her way to be an absolute demon like Mal has, and like, that was pretty shocking to her. She knows Uma would’ve told her that, or Carlos, or Jay, or Harry, or even Gil. Or like, anyone, really. And she’s pretty sure they have once or twice, but still. This is like big news to her, and she mentions it to Uma, and Uma looks like she could smack Mal across the face.

But that’s not the point. The point is she hasn’t slept, and it’s Evie’s fault, because she said she doesn’t hate Mal. So naturally, Mal falls asleep in like, two of her classes, until she decides she’s just not going to attend today and then makes her way to the school library, and that’s the first time she walks into that place in this entire year, probably.

So Mal walks straight to the couch she knows they have stored somewhere in the back of the room and all of those shelves, because Jay has told her about it, and like. She doesn’t wanna think about the possible people that may have used that couch for other things, but. It’s her only choice now, and she smiles at the librarian, who looks at her a little suspiciously because it’s the middle of a period and the library is mostly empty, and Mal looks like someone who would skip class. So she greets the old lady with a smile and a small comment about some project she needs to finish today that’s not for another three months, because she’s just so _responsible_ , and the older woman smiles and looks at her like she’s just solved world hunger or something, because older people are sucker for kids who aren’t like, everything that Mal is but pretends she isn’t.

So the librarian leaves her alone to finish her nonexistent project, and Mal throws herself on the couch and closes her eyes, sighing happily at the prospect of sleeping for the rest of the school day.

But of course, as Mal is well aware, the universe wants her to choke and die, so of course someone else wants to use the couch. And triple of course, that someone is no one less than Evie herself.

Mal scooches over, but she make sure to glare a little as she does, and she rolls her eyes when Evie makes a point to look at Mal’s sneakers on the couch, as if she’s just kicked her puppy and then backed over it with her car twice, because she has her shoes on the couch of a school library, where people probably fucked on, but Mal’s sneakers are the problem. (Sneakers that she, mind you, washed just last weekend). Mal rolls her eyes but doesn’t move her legs, because she got here first and she’s already making a lot of effort into accommodating a person she hates.

“Are you skipping class?” Mal asks, because God knows why. Evie glances at her, as if she’s surprised Mal would ever do something so wild as to ask her a direct question. As if she hadn’t done so on Friday night. But then again, she was drunk, and most people don’t obsess over social interactions like Mal does, so.

“No.” Is the lackluster answer, and Mal kind of regrets asking if Evie’s just going to be boring and answer with one word answers. But then, “I have this period free.”

“Ah,” Mal nods. And like, who the fuck cares, really, but Mal apparently does, so, “How come?”

“What?” Evie asks, and she sounds like she’s not in the mood to talk to Mal, or she’s shocked that Mal’s not being a complete asshole, or she’s just bothered because she’s probably here for a reason, and Mal’s stupid interest on her schedule is annoying, but, “Why I have this period free?”

“Yeah.” And like, Mal thinks she might be on crack. Because she doesn’t care, not really, but she can’t stop talking or asking or looking at Evie and noticing things like her lips are really pretty and full and her eyes have little golden flecks and there’s this little dot on her right eye that’s kind of pretty cute, and like, what the fuck.

“Uh,” Evie pauses, as if she doesn’t know why, or she thinks that Mal is on crack, “It’s Spanish and I tutor people for grades so I don’t have to go to class and like, learn things I already knew.”

Oh, that’s like. Pretty smart and interesting, and Mal hates it because she doesn’t want to think that Evie is smart or interesting, but then she’s talking again because why not, and something ridiculous that sounds a lot like, “Right, ‘cause you’re from Colombia” comes out of her mouth, because apparently Mal needed to tell Evie that.

Evie nods, and if she’s surprised that Mal knows where she’s from, it doesn’t show. She seems more disturbed that Mal is talking to her like she knows how to interact with another human being.

“Why are you here?” Evie asks, and her tone is not rude, so Mal tries not to take offense on the question, “I mean, no one’s ever here during this period,” she elaborates, as if she’s noticed how her question sounded.

And really, Mal feels kind of bad, because Evie does things like elaborate when she thinks her questions were rude, when Mal has started most of their verbal altercations because Mal is a goblin, apparently, as she’s realized this weekend. But this looks like a civil enough interaction, and Mal’s like, actually proud of herself, even though she still hates Evie. 

“Um,” She knows Evie will judge her if she tells her that she just felt like skipping because she wanted to nap, so she settles on: “Didn’t feel too great.” 

And weirdly enough, Evie looks like she cares if Mal dies or not, because she gives her this concerned frown and she almost looks like she wants to reach out and like, actually touch Mal or something, but she doesn’t, and then she asks, “Oh no, are you okay? Do you think it was something you ate?”

Mal shakes her head, because she can’t quite find her voice right now, she’s too shocked. First, Evie tells her she doesn’t hate her, and now she’s sitting beside her and they’re having a civil conversation, and then Evie is acting like she cares about Mal’s well-being?

“I’m okay, thanks.” Because Mal might be clueless about human and civil interactions, but sometimes she has a clue, so. Evie looks pleased, and then she turns back to her book that Mal hadn’t noticed she was holding before, and she figures that’s the end of their interaction.

Which is too bad, because Mal still wants to ask her how come she doesn’t hate her guts, but then she feels like she’s caring a little too much and she has to remind herself that she still despises the floor Evie walks on, so she settles on laying back and closing her eyes, ready to catch up on that sleep she had originally came here for.

-

She thinks Evie thinks they’re friends now, because the brown haired girl greets her once in the hallway, and Mal was top stunned to like, glare in response, so the girl might’ve assumed that meant they were on good terms, or something.

And then it happens more and more, and Mal finds that she doesn’t feel like being rude in return, because she’s been rude to Evie for like, her entire life, and the girl still doesn’t hate her back, and she guesses that won’t change anytime soon, so it’s like useless, really. She can be rude to Chad, and hate Evie quietly.

Except.

Except she’s learning along the way that she might not hate Evie as much as she thought, because after the tenth day of Evie greeting her and Mal ignoring her, the blonde finally greets her back. And the brunette had given like, twenty more steps before she turned around with wide eyes, surprised that Mal had greeted her back. But Mal pretended she hadn’t seen her turning around, that she was too focused on whatever she had inside her locker.

After that, it becomes an habit. Evie greets her every morning, and Mal greets her back. Some days it’s a grumble, others it’s a half-hearted ‘hey’. But that’s progress, right?

Mal thinks so.

-

Come another game, Mal had made Uma promise that she would not try and get her to go again, but of course her friend doesn’t actually care about what Mal wants, so she’s there. 

And like, Mal wants to handwrite a formal complaint to the school board about how off-key that triangle from the marching band sounds, because it’s actually pretty aggravating to her.

More aggravating than that, though, is the way that Evie keeps looking up at her from the field as if Mal’s like, here for her or something, which she isn’t, but. Mal’s annoyed, and she wants to go home, and everyone’s being way too loud again, and Mal wants to tell them to stop that.

Can’t people just watch a game quietly? Jesus.

The game ends, and their school loses, and everyone’s acting like they did on the last day of middle school again, which is ridiculous because she knows next week there’s another game. So.

But, even with the loss, there’s another party, this time at Chad’s, because teenagers apparently like to get drunk and party whether there’s a reason to celebrate or not. And apparently her friends expect her to go to this one also, and this time she doesn’t even have her vespa with her to make a run for it in the parking lot, because she got a ride with Uma.

“Okay, but I will kill myself.” Mal says, looking deep into her friend’s dark eyes to show her that she means it.

“You’ve been saying that since you learned what that meant,” Uma rolls her eyes in response, unbothered with her friend’s immature behavior, “I don’t buy it anymore.” 

And okay, maybe Mal’s a bit dramatic. Maybe she’s so dramatic that she made up an entire situation where she and Evie hated each other mutually in her head for years, just because. Just _because_. No ulterior, deeply hidden motives, no nothing.

What matters is that she’s here, at Chad’s house, and there’s drunk people everywhere again, but this time Mal doesn’t wait long until she’s outside, and she’s like, fucking smart because she remembered to bring a jacket this time around. She almost feels like a normal high schooler, because this is what? Her second party in a month, and that’s like, impressive. Her mom would be proud. 

She finds an empty pool chair and sits on it, staring at the pool in front of her, ignoring the other people around her that are either too drunk to know where they are or had the same idea as her. 

And then, as if by tradition, Evie sits beside her and Mal almost cannot wait for whatever drunken confession Evie is about to throw on her and then walk away.

And as by tradition, Mal can’t wait for the other girl to talk first, so, “Not in the mood for a party?” comes out her mouth, and Mal wants to die because that sounds like something a boy in a movie would say to his love interest or whatever, and now she’s like actually angry at herself for even thinking that, and.

“I am,” is the answer, nothing following for a few minutes, so Mal just lets it be.

But, not.

“Don’t you have like, a boyfriend in the team to spend time with or something?” Mal asks, and it’s like she took human interaction and removed the human part of it, because what the fuck and who the fuck would ever, but Evie’s looking at her strangely, as if she thinks Mal still thinks she’s dating Ben or something.

“No.” She answers, and she tugs on her jacket for a second, “I don’t have a boyfriend. In the team, or anywhere.” She says, blinking slowly and she’s probably drunk again. “I’m single.” She says after a pause, and Mal nods once, because she actually doesn’t like, care, but she’s asked so she got an answer and the least she could do is acknowledge the very detailed answer she’s gotten from the drunk girl.

“Do you?” She asks after a moment, and Mal’s a little surprised, but then she guesses it’s fair and the polite thing to do. Ask the freak that asked you if you have a boyfriend if they have one as well, and all that.

“No.” She answers, and Evie nods, looking thoughtful for a second. “Why aren’t you with your team?” She asks, because apparently that’s a thing she does now.

Evie looks like she wants to say something that’s like, really troubling, but decides against it, and Mal pretends she doesn’t notice that when Evie only shrugs in response to her.

“I don’t have to ask why you’re out here and not in there,” Evie says after a minute, and Mal nods, because like, yeah. She doesn’t, it’s written right across Mal’s forehead, at literally every second of every day: “ _I don’t want to be here._ ”

“Uma dragged me again.” Mal says, and this feels kind of weird. This whole talking to Evie as if Mal didn’t spend most of her life blaming every single little thing on Evie’s mere existence.

They’re in silence for like, ten minutes, but it’s not an uncomfortable silence or anything, it’s more like, co-existing in each other’s space, and it’s pretty nice.

Until.

Until, “You know, Mal, you’re really-” And she stops herself, as if she wants to say something else, as if she’s been thinking that for years, but then she just shakes her head and takes another sip of whatever it was that she was drinking and stands. “Do you want something to drink?”

And okay, Mal’s pretty stunned by this whole thing that she just shakes her head, her mind running wild to what Evie could possibly have wanted to say to her.

She’s really… what? Annoying? Ugly? In her own head?

All three?

Evie takes her head shake as a denial to her question, so she just nods and walks towards the house, probably to get something to drink. Mal waits for Evie to come back for another ten minutes, and when it gets to eleven and she still hasn’t returned, Mal groans.

Guess that’s another weekend wondering what the fuck Evie meant by that.

-

Mal finds Evie again at the library, and she acts like she’d forgotten that the girl would be here during this specific time that she had previously told her that was her free period.

And as she had predicted, Mal didn’t get a lot of sleep during the weekend, and Uma had looked at her like she was going to kill her every time she face timed the girl to ask if she had any idea what Evie might’ve used to end that one sentence about her.

“Why don’t you just ask her yourself? Jesus Christ.” Uma had snapped as soon as her face appeared in the blonde girl’s screen on the fifth time Mal had called her.

Evie looks at her like she knows why Mal is here, or something, because she doesn’t look surprised to see her there. Mal wonders if Uma told her about her calls, but then again, maybe not. Maybe Evie is like, really a witch, _or something._

“Um, can I sit here?” Mal asks, motioning for the couch. Evie raises an eyebrow, but otherwise nods, and Mal sits quietly and counts to ten, to see if this time Evie will speak first.

She doesn’t.

She does something far more confusing and unexpected, actually. She reaches for something in her bag, and pulls out a rather yellowed piece of paper, and sets it on Mal’s lap. Mal frowns, but picks the paper up and unfolds it, and she notices that the paper is torn and crinkled, because of age and also because of how many times it must’ve been opened and closed over the years.

She stares at the paper for a second, trying to figure out where she knows it from, until.

Until.

“You kept this?” She asks, looking at the piece of paper, the words _‘get out of my school’_ written on it in faded purple crayon.

And that’s a stupid question, of course, because the paper is right in front of her, and how else would it be if Evie hadn’t kept it for all these years?

“Why did you keep this?” She asks then, because that’s more of a valid question. Evie is looking at her like she knows too much, maybe more than Mal knows herself, and it’s a bit unnerving. She’s studying Mal as if she’s waiting for something, a sign, anything, and Mal’s like. Pretty uncomfortable with that, actually.

Evie doesn’t look like she even wants to answer to her questions, so it’s like. They’re sitting there, and Evie’s looking at her like she knows something, and Mal’s just... Kinda there, with this piece of paper from years ago, trying to figure out what all of this meant.

Then, it’s like Evie got tired of waiting for… whatever it was that she was waiting for, and she just shakes her head and gives Mal this kind of meaningful look - but what does it _mean -_ and grabs her things and stands up and leaves.

Mal looks down at the piece of paper again, because maybe it holds some answers. It doesn’t, but.

God, can’t Evie just like, finish a conversation like a normal person? Why does she keep leaving Mal with unanswered questions, acting so damn mysterious about everything - right. Because she’s annoying.

She’s annoying and Mal hates her.

-

She doesn’t.

Hate Evie. She doesn’t. She knows that, she’s kind of accepted that by now. But like. She hadn’t quite _realized_ it.

She hadn’t realized that she didn’t hate Evie. Like, hadn’t realized what that entailed. Not until she had woken up at 4AM, eyes wide as she stared at the dark ceiling, as if someone had just ran over her with the realization truck or something.

It hadn’t _hit_ her until now, what she thinks Evie might’ve known all along. So obviously, the first thing she does is grab her phone and dial Uma’s phone number, because.

And it rings once. Twice. And Mal’s starting to get restless, because she needs Uma to hear this, she needs to tell her that she’s finally realized what’s been going on for like, ten years of her life.

“I’m going to fucking murder you.” Is what she’s greeted with, and she doesn’t pay it any mind. Uma doesn’t like orange, so it’s not like she’d ever risk having to wear an orange jumpsuit just to murder her.

“I like her.” She says, and there’s a pause, and it’s like.

It’s like everything makes sense, and falls into place, and all that.

“No shit, you dumb bitch.” Uma says, and when Mal is about to protest, she says, “do something about it because she’s getting tired of waiting.” and then hangs up.

Right. Because Evie is not like, dumb, or anything. Because Evie knows, and she’s known for a long time, because Mal lives in her head too much and hadn’t caught up with what was probably obvious to everyone else but her. Right.

Mal feels like a complete idiot, and well. She’s not wrong.

-

“I called you gross and told you to get out of my school because I’m a goblin with the emotional range of a teaspoon that lives in her head far too much for it to be healthy and doesn’t know how to deal with her feelings.” Is what she starts with, and like. That seems about right. No arguing there.

Evie looks up at her, surprised, and it takes her a few seconds to process what Mal had greeted her with.

They’re standing on the field, and it’s empty except for the two of them, but Uma had told her she would find Evie running a few laps after school hours, so. Evie stares at her for a few seconds, and she’s like, sweaty and panting and Mal tries her hardest not to like, perv or anything as creepy and stalkerish.

And they’ve been standing there for like, a few minutes now, and Mal is wondering if Evie’s heard her or if she needs to repeat herself or something, but then.

But then Evie grabs her by the back of her neck, and there’s a moment in which Mal thinks Evie is going to like, headbutt her or something, but then her lips are met with soft ones, and.

And she’s kissing Evie, the princess with the pretty smile who she’d sworn was her arch nemesis for most of her life, and she feels like this is where she belongs. So she hugs Evie closer, and kisses her back as intensely as possible, and like. Wow. Talk about plot twist.

When they part ways, Evie is still holding Mal by the back of her neck, and looking at her like she thinks Mal is pretty or something, and then: “I don’t think you’re a goblin.” But it’s implicit by her tone of voice and her eyes that she agrees with the rest, and okay, that’s fair.

Mal goes to say something, she doesn’t know what, but she feels like she _has_ to like, make amends for being a stupid bitch for so long, but then Evie is shaking her head and telling her to shut up, _which_.

 _Okay_ , fair enough, but then Evie kisses her again, as if to make sure that she will shut her mouth. When they part again, Mal actually fucking _giggles,_ and Evie actually has the nerve to laugh at that, and -

Evie is annoying and Mal like, hates her.

(She doesn’t actually, she actually likes Evie a lot, like more than the average person, she guesses, and she would like, travel the world with her and do cute things like hold her hand, and just the thought of doing that makes Mal want to like, giggle again.)

God, what a bitch.

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me yours thoughts! I'll take hate mail, too. Hope it won't be the case with this one, though. :)


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